GOP activists vote down calling for conflict of interest policy amid tensions between leadership, grassroots groups

ROTHSCHILD — Republican activists today voted against calling for the state party to implement a conflict of interest policy that would ban members of the executive committee from advocating for or representing “the interests of any competing organization.”

The nonbinding resolution proposed a series of restrictions for executive committee members, including bans on sharing sensitive party information with a competing organization or unlawfully coordinating with another group.

Some had interpreted the call as an effort to target members of groups such as Turning Point USA, which has been making inroads with local parties in Wisconsin. The national group has declared its intentions of filling offices such as state party chair as part of an effort to gain influence with the Republican National Committee. The Wisconsin GOP’s Executive Committee elects the state chair in Wisconsin.

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Milwaukee County GOP Chair Hilario Deleon, who previously worked as a ballot chase manager for Turning Point, accused those pushing the resolution of targeting members of the grassroots, arguing it was time for the party to unify. He questioned why the proposed resolution didn’t also include provisions that would place restrictions on members of the executive committee who work for consulting groups.

“This fighting has to stop right here, right now,” Deleon said.

The defeated proposal included several principles for a possible conflict of interest policy. That included a requirement that executive committee members protect sensitive party information and refrain from using it to benefit a competing organization. It also called for barring executive committee members from unlawfully coordinating with a competing organization. It also called for creating consequences for unethical behavior.

The vote was the latest sign of tension in the party between leadership and various grassroots factions. Going into the convention, there were rumblings of an attempt to force a no confidence vote in state party Chair Brian Schimming. But no effort materialized from the floor.

Shortly after the convention kicked off this morning, there was an effort to block state party Treasurer Kelly Ruh from serving as a delegate after her local county party didn’t elect her to a spot. 

Brown County members objected to the move, noting 85% of the people who showed up for the meeting to elect delegates voted against including her on the list.

Winnebago County Chair Cameron Clark expressed exasperation that the party would consider blocking a member in good standing from serving as a delegate.

“The fact that we would exclude our own state treasure as a delegate is absurd,” he said.

But Brown County Chair Douglas Reich objected to Ruh being seated after losing a fair election.

“That’s not democracy. That’s manipulation,” he said. “We followed the rules. She simply lost the vote.”

The party counts votes by asking people to stand to indicate their position. There were first boos as people moved to block Ruh to be a delegate. There were then boos when others stood seeking to seat her.

The party is coming off a 10-point loss in the spring state Supreme Court race, and its fundraising has lagged badly behind the state Dem Party’s in recent years. That has exacerbated some of the tension.

Several speakers today issued pleas to stop the infighting.

“It’s not each other. It’s taking care of that monster on the other side,” National Committeeman Terry Dittrich said.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, urged local activists to be more inclusive and broaden the party tent. That included a call for local party officials to be gracious after debates at the county level.

“In the 15 years since I entered this political process, I’ve never seen as many political squabbles,” Johnson said.